New to aqua plants.

[Easystreet]

Hello all,

I am looking to get a nice little glass 2.5 gallon tank for work. I wanted to have a plants only tank and maybe have a couple shrimp(Ghost or Cherry) or ADF's later if possible but no fish.

I found Seachem Flourite Plant Substrate at my local fish store. I am wondering if this would be safe for Shrimp or ADF's. At 25 bucks a bag I am a bit weary. What else could I use? Unless of course this is the best...then I would have to weigh the pro's and con's of using this or something cheaper.

I like the Idea of a little bog wood with stuff growing on it with some plants around the back of the tank to fill it in. Is this possible? What types of plants could I use in a low light enviroment?

What troubles would I run into with the hypethetical tank above?

How often to I change the water?

How much water do I change?

Would I need a filter if only plants in the tank? What would you recomend for a 2.5 If I do?

I am aware of the 2w/gallon rule of thumb for lighting. So I assume I would need 5w worth of light. Does the light in the office count? (The lighting is not very bright but not very dull either.

What else would I need?

Its early Im still asleep. Please forgive me if this post is sloppy.

Thanks all.
Jason

 

[houndour]

hiya,

Anything is possible

Check out the aga aquascaping contest site: http/showcase.aquatic-gardeners.org/2004...ategory=0&vol=0
There are some real small tanks on there that go to prove you can do it.

You might wanna double check the shrimp for a tank that size. I am in the process of setting up a 5US gallon tank and I was going to keep a betta and a couple of Amano shrimp, but I found out that amano shrimp needed min 10 gallon tank, and also they werent really compatible with a betta anyway.

I can't really help too much on many of your questions, but the wpg rule kind of goes out the window with smaller tanks. I'm getting 4.8 wpg for my tank.

I would do 30 to 50% weekly water changes, but thats just me, dunno if that's right.

Low light plants...java moss, java fern (too big for little tank tho) and anubias i think is low light. I've just been told anubias nana is the small species.

Hope that gives you some stuff to look into.

Sam